IDA moves to stop railroad shutdown

NORWICH – The Chenango County Industrial Development Agency has moved to stop the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad from permanently discontinuing service along the 41 miles of track between Chenango Bridge and Sherburne.

The IDA, which holds title to the railroad property that falls within Chenango County, filed a petition late last week encouraging the Surface Transportation Board to “reopen, reject and/or revoke” NYS&W’s notice to discontinue service along the line.

In the documents, the IDA claims NYS&W’s request is contrary to the applicable regulations, contains false and misleading information and is invalid.

In an Aug. 12 filing, NYS&W sought an exemption from formal procedures of rail regulations pertaining to abandonment and discontinuance on the grounds that there had been no local traffic over the line in two years, all existing service had been successfully rerouted and no formal complaint had been filed “regarding cessation of service” within that time period.

The STB acknowledged the NYS&W petition on Aug. 29 and stated the exemption would “be effective on Oct. 1, 2008, unless stayed pending reconsideration.”

According to legal precedent cited in the IDA filing, exemptions are typically granted in instances where there is no demonstrated “need or interest in continued transportation service over the line.” The IDA claims that there has, in deed, been interest.

Included with the filing was the copy of a letter dated prior to the Aug. 12 NYS&W filing from a Norwich-based company, Kerry Bio-Science, requesting service along the line. In light of this request, the IDA stated that “[t]he Board should not condone carriers ignoring requests for service and then invoking the exemption.”